


A Jest for the Gods

by Carmarthen



Category: Frontier Wolf - Rosemary Sutcliff
Genre: M/M, Pining, Sibling Rivalry, Unrequited Lust, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-07
Updated: 2013-01-07
Packaged: 2017-11-24 01:00:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/628500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carmarthen/pseuds/Carmarthen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Connla does not see why Cunorix should have everything he wants, only because he is the elder.</p><p>The problem is, Alexios has absolutely no idea what he's talking about.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Jest for the Gods

**Author's Note:**

  * For [motetus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/motetus/gifts).



> I...don't even know what this is, but I hope you don't hate it.

Alexios had nearly nodded off in the warmth of the late afternoon sun, his rolled up cloak pillowing his head from the spiky heather, when he startled awake to Connla’s voice.

“I do not see why my brother should always be having everything he wishes, only because he is the eldest,” Connla muttered, and when Alexios opened his eyes, he found Connla staring at him with a queer intensity.

Connla was sitting quite close, almost leaning over Alexios. Before it had felt companionable, two friends on a day’s hunting sitting in the heather after the midday meal before whistling up the dogs again. Now Alexios felt uncomfortable under Connla's mocking gaze; he flushed a little, which only made Connla's smile grow wider, into something with teeth in it.

Alexios pushed himself up to his elbows. “I do not take your meaning. I am hunting with you today, am I not?” he said as lightly as he could, for that was the only thing he could think of that Connla might be jealous of Cunorix for, this time; but he did not always understand Connla, with his quicksilver shifts of mood. He could go from laughter to brawling as swiftly as a fine day to a summer storm, blue skies darkening to lightning-torn black.

He was not like his brother at all; not like Cunorix, who laughed more kindly, and did not slip away whenever Alexios tried to understand him; Cunorix, who was steady. And Alexios wished suddenly that Cunorix had been free to hunt today, for he was in no mood for the sharp edge of Connla’s tongue, and anyway, Cunorix was nearly always more pleasant company. 

And then Connla threw back his flame-red head and laughed. “Oh, that is the way of it! My brother is more a fool than I thought, if he does not see what he might have. What a fine jest, o Commander of Castellum. Come, come, up, there is daylight left! We shall bring back a buck, and Cunorix will be sorry he did not come.”

Connla was in perfect humor the rest of the day, and they did bring back a buck. But the look that passed between Connla and Cunorix when they returned left Cunorix scowling and silent, and Connla’s laughter that night around the fire had a brittle edge to it that Alexios did not like.

They had always quarreled, as long as Alexios had known them; but this was different, and the feeling of unease did not fade the next morning when Cunorix embraced him in farewell. It was the same as always: a hard embrace, a feeling of heat and the smell of leather and horse, and a swift pang of loss, quickly pushed aside. And then Cunorix set his hands on Alexios’ shoulders and looked at him levelly, his wide mouth serious and set and his thick russet brows drawn together. “Alexios, my heart-friend,” he said, quietly, “be you careful of my brother. Connla is...not always thoughtful, in everything he does.”

“I--I am careful,” Alexios said, after a moment, puzzled. It was not as if he was in the habit of sharing the secrets of his heart with Connla, of all men, but he had to say _something._

The look in Cunorix’s eyes, curiously sad, stayed with him the whole ride back to Castellum.


End file.
